Saturday, March 3, 2012

Bathroom Chart

Kids going to the bathroom ALL DAY long is a problem in most classrooms. They ask to go about 6 times a day, and only really need to use the restroom half the time. I've put a stop to this in my classroom with the bathroom chart. I've used it for about 5 years now, and it has worked like a charm! The kids go to the bathroom with the class or as a group 3 times a day. They only have ONE other opportunity to go to the restroom by themselves. To keep track of the times they go, I created a bathroom chart with library pockets. Each pocket has a popsicle stick with one side colored green, and the other side colored red. Each day, the kids start off on green. When they use their one bathroom pass, they have to change their stick to red (before they leave the room).
Of course, if it is an emergency, I let them go, but otherwise they owe me 5 cents from their classroom money card if they choose to go when their stick has been changed to red. Sometimes I can really tell if it is a emergency or not by reminding them they will owe me 5 cents. It's amazing how quickly they change their mind:) At the end of the day one student changes all the sticks back to green for the next day!
Here is a picture of my chart in my room. We use the number system in my class, so that is why you don't see the names on the library pockets!

1 comment:

Awesome! I love how it is visual to help the students remember. I did a whole blog post http://www.eslcarissa.blogspot.mx/2014/01/i-have-to-go-to-bathroom.html on bathroom policies, but I had never seen this one before.